Refuting the allegations of the parents of a British Sikh schoolgirl, 8, authorities at Government Rajindra Hospital here have denied that it was for harvesting that her organs were extracted during autopsy.
On April 6, The Khanna police had brought the body of Gurkiren Kaur Loyal to Patiala with a post-mortem examination request, hospital's medical superintendent Dr Vijay Sharda stated on Wednesday. "The time between death and autopsy was 4 days (when the organs have long lost their utility for transplant)," the doctor added.
"A board comprising Dr Surinder Singh (forensic medicine), Dr RPS Sibia (medicine), Dr Anil Suri (pathgology), and Dr Ashok Kumar (microbiology) conducted the autopsy," said Dr Sharda. "It was a case of tetrology of fallout (congenital heart malformation), for which she had been operated upon twice in the UK. The organs were removed to ascertain the cause of death."
Gurkiren's heart, lungs and brain, and the viscera were sent for examination to the histology and pathology department of the Patiala hospital and the stomach, part of the small intestine along with its contents, part of the liver, spleen, and a half of each kidney were sent to the chemical examiner at Kharar, the medical superintendent has confirmed.
Dr Manjit Singh Bal, head of the hospital's pathothology department, who examined the minor's heart, said the size of its had been above normal. Birmingham-born Gurkiren Kaur Loyal fell ill on a family holiday in Punjab last month and was treated for dehydration at a clinic in Khanna, Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}Dr Manjit Singh Bal, head of the hospital's pathothology department, who examined the minor's heart, said the size of its had been above normal. Birmingham-born Gurkiren Kaur Loyal fell ill on a family holiday in Punjab last month and was treated for dehydration at a clinic in Khanna, Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday in London, her parents alleged that the medical personnel at Khanna had administered her a "mystery injection" upon which she had died. The girl's mother, Amrit Kaur Loyal, has said her daughter was, perhaps, the victim of a failed attempt to harvest organs.
The parents have stated that her body was, later, transferred to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, where it is believed her organs were removed during autopsy.
Cong demands judicial probe
Chandigarh: The Punjab Congress on Wednesday demanded a judicial investigation into the "mysterious" death of a British Sikh girl, 8, on April 2 at a private clinic in Khanna in Ludhiana district.
"The death of Gurkiren Kaur, a UK citizen, brings to the fore the crumbled and medieval-type healthcare system in Punjab," state Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said here. "A mystery injection killed her in split seconds," said Khaira. Thereafter, her body was subjected to inhuman autopsy at a government hospital."
Private hospitals mushrooming in the state had no government supervision or control, said Khaira. PTI